Pizokel
Pizokel, or bizochels in Romansh, are the hand-scraped dumplings of Graubünden, the mountainous canton in the south-east around Chur and the Engadine: a soft dough of buckwheat and wheat flour, egg and milk is scraped off a wooden board into boiling water, then the little dumplings are fried in butter with Swiss chard or cabbage and onion and layered with grated mountain cheese. Mountain cheeses are usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian one. A common mistake is a stiff dough, which makes heavy pizokel. Chef's tip: the dough should be soft and sticky like spätzle batter; wet the knife each time you scrape.




